Mark Hendrickson is one of only 13 athletes ever to play in both the NBA and Major League Baseball. He is the only one to do it in the past 40 years and the only one to play at least four seasons in each league. A 6-foot-9 forward on the basketball court and a left-handed pitcher in baseball, Hendrickson exhibited two-sport stardom back to his high school days when he led Mount Vernon to two state basketball championships (1991, 1992) and two state baseball championships (1990, 1992). He was a 13th-round baseball draft pick in 1992 but headed to Washington State University focused on basketball. He was a two-time, first-team all-Pac-10 selection. When he concluded his WSU basketball career in 1996, he was second for career rebounds (927) and third for points (1,496). He was the 31st overall pick in the 1996 draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He played 114 NBA games with four teams. He had pitched eight games at WSU as a junior and MLB scouts kept drafting him. He signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, playing some minor league ball while still in the NBA. In 2002, he made his Major League debut. He was a full-time starting pitcher for three seasons with Toronto and Tampa Bay. He continued for 10 seasons in the majors, winning 58 games. He also hit the first home run by a pitcher in the history of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Republished from the Washington State Hall of Fame

Christal Morrison is the only player in the storied history of the University of Washington volleyball program to be a four-time American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American selection (1st-team junior and senior seasons, 3rd-team as a sophomore and 2nd-team as a freshman). An outside hitter from Puyallup, Morrison was the first Husky to be named first-team All-Pac 10 all four years (2004-2007). She left UW as the Huskies career leader in kills (1,859, now second) and points (2,188.0 still first), third in aces (142), seventh in digs (1,154), and 10th in total blocks (294). As a sophomore in 2005, she led Washington to its first national title and was named the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player. Her efforts earned her recognition as the Seattle Post Intelligencer Sports Star of the Year. UW advanced to the national semifinals in three of her four seasons.

After college, four seasons on the pro beach volleyball circuit took her around the world. Morrison was inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame in 2014. At Puyallup High School, she was named Washington’s Gatorade Player of the Year and played on the U.S. Junior National Team that won a silver medal at the 2002 NORCECA Junior Continental Championships.

Republished from the Washington State Hall of Fame